I'm not usually one to criticize the manager for going to one player or one pitcher in a particular spot. If the players perform, all moves are good ones, right?
But I took particular exception to Garner's managing yesterday in two regards, once when he didn't make a move, and once when he made a move that everyone expected, but with the wrong freaking player (again!)
First off, I don't know whether those watching at home found it as obvious as those of us in the stadium did, but you could see the Ramirez homer that changed the course of the game coming from a mile away. Buchholz had clearly labored through the first part of the fifth, and if you had any doubts, all you had to do was watch him walk Amezaga, whom he'd had little trouble with previously. Buchholz was behind to everyone in the inning, and with the South Florida sun, it was clear he had little left. And with Ramirez coming up, who'd hit the ball hard twice against Buchholz when he was still throwing well, the obvious no-brain move was to remove Taylor.
This is NOT hindsight. As I sat there in the stadium, I both knew that nothing good would come of a Buchholz vs. Ramirez at-bat, and that Garner was not going to do anything to avert it.
The homerun barely bothered me, it was so very much expected.
Funny about Taylor, though. He was the proverbial pitcher fading badly in the heat, and I couldn't help but wonder if he might have been a little more susceptible than most on a hot Sunday afternoon. It seems like every picture that doesn't actually show Taylor flinging the ball shows him wiping away sweat from his brow. Truth is, Taylor sweats like a pig, and if you think in terms of all those electrolytes departing his body, and the accelerated rate his body works at to keep itself cool, you might not find it surprising that Taylor didn't go deep in this one.
I dunno, just a theory. Not saying Taylor shouldn't have started, or anything. . . .like I said, just a theory.
I almost hesitate to mention the second gripe, because I've already mentioned it too much previously. But once again, OP was first off the bench, in a critical situation, and once again, OP failed. Just based on his first three or four AB's, Luke Scott (who probably should have started, but nevermind that) has shown that he's gonna hit the ball hard. Scott is an option, Phil. Avail yourself of him while you have the opportunity, and get past the lefty/righty thing for a change.